Prologues
by Saeadame
Summary: Series of "prologue" drabbles for various story ideas in the FFVII universe. If anyone wants to pick up a plot, please go ahead! Mostly Cloud-centric, though the ideas could easily be used for other characters too. Gen.
1. PostAC Cloud

Hi everyone! I'm not really much of a writer, but I always have these ideas floating around in my head. I know I don't have the skill or perseverance to write them into a full story, so I thought I'd take a shot at writing a kind of "prologue" for the idea(s). If anyone wants to use the idea in whole or in part for a full one-shot or even a full story – I'd be thrilled! You don't even have to ask, although leaving me with a link to your story once it's up would make me ever so happy. I've purposefully left these ideas gen, so any authors can spin the story into whatever pairing they like (or if they want, genfic is fun too). Most are going to be written Cloud-centric, although at the bottom I might put some "alternate scenario" notes on how I think the idea could be used with a different character.

First up features…

Post-Advent Children Cloud rides to Nibelheim one last time, but the Planet has a little surprise for him…

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Cloud was playing chicken with rocks. Even though he'd driven this way countless times, he'd never really enjoyed it. He was always trying to get his deliveries done (or pretending to get deliveries done as an excuse not to go home, but that's beside the point). Ever since the Remnants, ever since geostigma was cured… he'd felt lighter. Like the weight of the world was easier to bare. Seeing Aerith, seeing Zack, know without a doubt they didn't blame him, that they wanted him to live…

It made him feel warm. It was a little scary, actually, having his guilt and his anger gone. He'd felt it for so long that he didn't know what to do now that he was, well, happy. Yes, he was happy.

He had decided to visit Nibelheim one last time. He'd come there before, of course, but the reconstructed village had both saddened and angered him. There was no evidence of everything that had happened there, nothing except his own memories of that day. And really, the remembering whole event was like seeing double – he had his own scattered recollections, and Zack's clearer, but no less incomplete ones. Every time he went there before he was weighed down by his guilt and sadness and anger.

But, he felt like he could let go now. He could visit his mother's unmarked grave, he could see the Shinra-made Nibelheim, and let go a little.

He rode through the tiny village slowly, remembering. Sure, there had been some bad times – the whole village had basically shunned him after he 'almost got Tifa killed' – but it hadn't been all bad. He remembered his mother, and how she called him her 'little dream-Cloud' all the way up until he left for Midgar. He'd been so embarrassed when he was younger, when he'd hear her calling him home he would always run home as fast as he could, hiding his burning face in shame. He smiled a little at the memory.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Cloud sighed as he gazed at Nibelheim. He didn't think he'd be back here again – the ghosts had been laid to rest.

As he turned away, the wind shifted, carrying the sweet smell of flowers through the barren town, and a piercing wail broke the still air.

What…? A baby? Out here?

Cautiously, Cloud crept toward the noise. There, lying on the ground as if it had sprung from the dirt, was a baby swathed in a white cloth. Screaming and crying. And probably pretty cold.

He hurriedly picked the baby up, awkwardly holding it while trying to shelter it from the wind and calm it down. What did he know about babies? Almost nothing, he's a fighter not a caretaker for Planet's sake.

As the noise quieted, he looked down and almost dropped the baby in shock. There, swaddled in cloth was a little silver-haired, green-eyed baby, who, despite the pudgy baby face, looked like a baby version of Sephiroth.

For a moment, he was torn. Here was his enemy, a defenseless baby. It would be easy to… no. It was a defenseless baby, Jenova has been destroyed and _this_ Sephiroth hasn't done anything wrong yet. Besides, the baby just appeared out of nowhere, and the smell of flowers…

Obviously, Sephiroth was being given a second chance. A chance to grow up outside the labs, away from Hojo and Shinra and SOLDIER. His eyes still had the glow of Mako, but they weren't silted like old-Sephiroth's were. This is a Sephiroth without Jenova's cells, and he had a chance to become his own person, one that wasn't… crazy and broken.

Decision made, Cloud walked back to Fenrir.

Now, how exactly _was_ he going to get a baby home on a bike…

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Aaaannd that's it! I've seen some similar ideas (ie, Young!Sephiroth) but I haven't seen anything quite like this, so I hope it's unique. Some notes/other ideas:

- I guess it would be hard for it to be totally clear it's Sephiroth reborn. It could easily be mistaken for a baby clone, or a remnant like Kadaj or something, so if you want it to be questionable whether it's actually Sephiroth that's fine, I just decided not to go into it.

- This can be based in whatever kind of alternate FFVII universe you like. If you want Cloud to be with Tifa, you can probably leave it as-is since they live together, but if you want Cloud to be with someone else you probably want him with his own place. Personally, I like slash pairings for Cloud, so AR would be awesome. Seeing as we're bringing people back from the dead anyway, you could probably get away with Zack or Aerith being in there.

- I think Big Brother!Denzel would be so cute! Especially when he hits those awkward teenage years. You can decide if Marlene will still be with Tifa (and thus a fairly regular part of Sephiroth's life), or living with Barret now that he's rich on his oilfield (and thus more of an occasional visitor).

- Alternative character: Vincent. This one's pretty obvious, Vincent goes to Nibelheim, finds baby Sephiroth and decides to raise him. If you like the fanon, Vincent-is-actually-Sephiroth's-father plot, you can have that, but it's perfectly plausible that Vincent would take him in simply for being Lucrecia's son.

- Alternative character: Tifa. Tifa obviously has a connection to Nibelheim too, although she's not nearly as morose about it as Cloud is, so she could potentially be the one to find Sephiroth, and she has the disposition to take him in despite everything too, I think. This one might be pretty similar to one with Cloud, just with Tifa as the central, narrating character rather than Cloud.

- Obviously, this story can be fairly humourous or fairly dark depending on how you do it, so hopefully it appeals to someone!


	2. FFX xover with Auron

Second plot:

Crossover with Final Fantasy X, featuring the ever-awesome Auron and Young!Cloud.

This one's kinda random…

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The day Auron came to Nibelheim was like an omen. The weather had been unseasonably warm (although still pretty cold by anyone else's standards), and a thick fog hid the entire mountain range from view. From the mist stepped probably the strangest man that had ever come to Nibelheim, and with all the weird people that used to hang about Shinra Mansion, that's saying something. He was dressed in red, one arm tucked against its body like it was injured, the other holding a long, wide monstrosity of a sword. The man was not young, for certain, and a gash marred his face.

To a seven-year-old Cloud, he seemed like the most interesting person he had ever, or would ever meet in his life.

The villagers extended him suspicious hospitality as they whispered behind closed doors, _A man walks _down_ from Nibel Mountain when no one saw him go up?_

Most people were afraid of Auron, but Cloud not-so-subtly stalked him everywhere he went.

It wasn't that Cloud wasn't afraid (he was), but he had long resigned himself to being a virtual outcast in Nibelheim. He was too shy, too short, and too awkward to really make friends with any of the other children, and it's hard to be "friends" with adults, much less adults who have children your age, too. It wasn't that anyone was mean to him, just that no one really sought him out to play because they were a friend.

Despite his shyness, Cloud was determined to try being friends with Auron.

Two weeks after Auron arrived, he finally acknowledged his short follower.

"You may as well come sit," he said.

Cloud jerked back in surprise, but quickly scuttled over to sit next to Auron.

"What're you doing?" Cloud asked.

Auron said nothing.

Cloud bit his lip and sat beside Auron in silence, trying his very best not to fidget.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Two days later, Auron suddenly turn around, and swung his sword at Cloud's head. Cloud small squeak and threw himself to the ground, squeezing his eyes shut.

He looked up when he heard a low chuckle.

"Well, at least you're quick," said Auron, "You should work on your technique, however. Now you're trapped."

Auron slowly brought his sword down until the blade almost touched Cloud's head.

Cloud rolled to the side, "Well, um, what should I have done?"

"Hmph." Auron put his sword back on his shoulder and walked farther away from the village.

"Um, wait up!" Cloud scrambled up and ran after him.

A while later Auron stopped and picked up a long stick from the ground and examined it. It seemed to meet his approval, for he held onto it and kept walking, Cloud still trailing behind him in confusion.

Not much later, he picked up another long stick and looked at it too. Then he suddenly turned around and threw the stick at Cloud.

Cloud yelped in surprise and only barely managed to catch it.

"Um…"

Auron stared at him for a long moment, "Well, do you want to learn or not?"

Cloud gapped in surprise before smiling brightly.

He wasn't smiling when he came home that night, bruises and muscles aching, but he still felt the happiest he'd ever been.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

_5 years later…_

Twelve-year-old Cloud struggled to hold his ground. It didn't really help that he couldn't lift the sword off the ground. Every so often he would get the chance to practice with Auron's sword, but it's still way too heavy for him to actually attack with.

But it makes a decent shield, anyway. Cloud hand developed a technique where he would lift the hilt off the ground and hold it with both hands in front of his face, with his elbows straining under the weight. Then, he could rest the tip of the sword on the ground, and use the blade's wide upper portion as a big, flat, metal barrier between him and whatever Auron was trying to hit him with.

Still, he wistfully imagined he could actually lift the stupid thing.

Auron stopped attacking, and gave him a small nod. It was a fairly big sign of approval, and Cloud grinned back.

As they walked together, Cloud realized Auron was heading to the edge of town, toward the road leading up the mountain.

"Auron?" Cloud asked.

"Cloud," Auron said, not looking at him, "I'm leaving. There are other things I have to do, other stories I have to see. I'm sorry… I won't be here to see yours."

"But…"

"I'm sorry."

"I'll um… miss you."

Auron glanced down at Cloud, who was looking at his feet.

"Here," he said, holding out his sword, "I can get another. It's yours."

Cloud looked up, blinking back tears. Auron started walking, and a deep mist rolled in, blanketing everything in white. Cloud watched the red figure until he was absolutely sure he couldn't see any hint of red through the fog.

He held the sword's handle with both hands, and slowly dragged back home, doing his best not to cry.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

The end! But only if no one likes the idea ;).

Story notes/explainations/futher ideas:

- So the idea here is, if Auron can piggy back on Sin to go see Tidus, what's to say he can't pop up in other worlds/alternate universes? Plus, Auron's awesome, so even if it's not plausible well, it's fanfiction. Anything can happen.

- Speaking Final Fantasy X timeline-wise, this would be during the time between Braska's death and Yuna's pilgrimage. So, during the calm, basically. Tidus had met Auron before, but there's what, ten years of calm? I think it's possible Auron could have spent some time watching Tidus, and also spent 5 years hanging out in FFVII-verse with Young!Cloud.

- It would be implied (err, maybe more explicitly then I did…) that Auron had some attachment to Cloud because he looks a little like Tidus, who he's supposed to be looking after.

- So the way I see it, there's two main paths you could take from here:

1) Cloud goes and joins the Shinra army trying to get into SOLDIER like canon, but since he's already got an idol in Auron he's not nearly as enamoured with the SOLDIER Firsts (like Sephiroth, who we know canon-Cloud admired in a big way). He also has some skills, although I tried to convey in the story that I didn't want him to be super strong or anything. You can certainly change that point if that's what you want, but I think Cloud being a promising SOLDIER candidate in a perfectly normal way would be interesting too. Or, since he has that slight build, the Turks could pick him up. Not sure what would happen with Nibelheim, Sephiroth, etc, but I'm sure most people have plenty of ideas about that.

2) The other option is Cloud doesn't care about SOLDIER in the slightest, because in-person Auron is way cooler than still shots of SOLDIERs in the newspaper (okay, so Auron's just way cooler than almost everyone all the time, but anyway). So Cloud hangs out in Nibelheim, training himself until he's a fairly competent with Auron's sword and at 16… guess who comes to Nibelheim. And guess who their guide up the mountain is going to be. What happens from there is up to you.

- It could be interesting to bring in the FFX world, or more characters from it, anyway, but it could potentially get messy and complicated.


End file.
